Bill Esler

Architectural woodworkers, working more with mixed materials, find no room for error once projects head to installation. Computerization, from bids through production and delivery, is critical, AWI conventioneers were told.

A larch wood and movingui bathtub from Italian designer Rapsel, priced at $23,200 at AF New York, is a serious business initiative as well. 3D AutoDesk Inventor files are offered for architects who want to build it into their plans.

A ban on Federal funds for LEED building has been inserted in a transportation funding bill by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). Wicker's intent isn't to promote use of non-FSC lumber, but to restrict Federally funded "green washing."

A wood adhesive uses a new approach to bonding joinery. Eliminating water as a solvent, it is activated by salts contained in the wood fibers, and bonds in minutes. The challenge: users must cut tighter joints.